This is one of my favorite team-building, icebreaker activities. It’s also a great way to introduce your students to engineering! It can be done with students at many different grade levels. At the beginning of class, I start by welcoming my students to the staff of [Insert-the-name-of-your-school-here] Engineering Company.

I split the class into small groups and tell them: your team has been tasked with constructing the tallest free-standing tower you can build with the materials provided. I give each team a bag containing 20 pipe cleaners and I let them dive right in. It doesn’t take long for the teams to figure out that they need a strong base to hold the flimsy pipe cleaners.

Science teachers aren’t the only ones energized about the eclipse of the Sun. People everywhere are anticipated to take time on Monday to view this cosmic phenomenon. All of North America will be in its path, with a huge swath of the United States witnessing a total solar eclipse. From Salem, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina, twelve states are in the path of totality. So whether you are a teacher just back to school or a parent trying to make some final summer memories, check it out. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for you and the kids.

It’s easy to start a discussion about fossils and paleontology. Just ask your students to name their favorite dinosaurs. Almost everybody has a dino fave!

Depending upon the grade(s) you teach, your discussion may revolve around characteristics and classification of specific dinosaurs… the concept of extinction… or even the field of paleontology. We’ve amassed a wealth of links and ideas that will help you get your class excited about learning more. So… start digging!

If you have any ideas for new discussion starters on this topic, share with us in the comments section below.

An astonishing amount of information can be learned from fossilized bones that are millions of years old, but what about the many questions that we can’t know for sure? How fast did dinosaurs move? Did any species have feathers? Who picks the names of newly-discovered species? We may not have any living specimens around to observe, but there are hundreds of excellent videos that share information about what dino life might have been like.

If you find a video that you’d like to share with us, please leave a comment!

At Educational Innovations, we love helping teachers come up with new, exciting ways to explore science topics with their students. And let’s face it, what child doesn’t love dinosaurs and fossils?

The fact is, there are just so many ways to bring this subject into the classroom that we couldn’t decide on a single lesson that would appeal to all students and teachers. Luckily, the “interwebs” are chockful of excellent lesson ideas.